KING 5: Federal Way installs ‘Safe City’ cameras

FEDERAL WAY, Wash. – The City of Federal Way on Wednesday unveiled a new crime fighting system.

The city is the first in the Pacific Northwest to launch the “Safe City” program, which uses cameras to catch criminals.

The police department celebrated the launch of the system with a demonstration.

“To me all this project does is to make this community safer and to record the truth,” said King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg. “And if something bad does happen, we will be happy to show that video to a jury and a jury will be happy to receive it.”

Twenty-seven cameras have been installed all over the downtown core as part of the program. The new network of cameras allows Federal Way police to patrol the streets of their city right from the city’s police department, turning an electronic eye on crime.

“The added bonus is to give great evidence in court,” said a Federal Way Police spokesperson.

The city hopes to cut down on crime, but not everyone is excited about this new system.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Washington state is already coming out against it, telling our newspaper partner The Seattle Times “programs that have police cameras recording what people do on sidewalks move us closer to a surveillance society.”

The ACLU has also questioned the effectiveness of the cameras in the fight against crime, but Federal Way officials say they are only using the cameras to view what the public can already see from public areas and the system is in line with their policies aimed at protecting privacy.